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Display Provides Pilots with Real-Time Sonic-Boom Information

Friday, 01 March 2013

The impact of sonic booms can be controlled over populated areas.

Supersonic aircraft generate shock
waves that move outward and extend to
the ground. As a cone of pressurized air
spreads across the landscape along the
flight path, it creates a continuous sonic
boom along the flight track. Several factors
can influence sonic booms: weight,
size, and shape of the aircraft; its altitude
and flight path; and weather and atmospheric
conditions. This technology
allows pilots to control the impact of
sonic booms.

A software system displays the location
and intensity of shock waves caused by
supersonic aircraft. This technology can
be integrated into cockpits or flight control
rooms to help pilots minimize sonic boom
impact in populated areas. The
system processes vehicle and flight
parameters as well as data regarding current
atmospheric conditions. The display
provides real-time information
regarding sonic boom location and
intensity, enabling pilots to make the
necessary flight adjustments to control
the timing and location of sonic booms.
This technology can be used on current-generation
supersonic aircraft, which
generate loud sonic booms, as well as
future-generation, low-boom aircraft,
anticipated to be quiet enough for populated
areas.

When fully deployed in real time, the
display will leverage existing tools developed
and enhanced by the U.S. Air
Force and NASA to predict sonic boom
parameters. The prediction data will be
integrated with a real-time, local-area,
moving-map display that is capable of
displaying the aircraft’s current sonic
boom footprint at all times. The pilot
will be able to choose from a menu of
pre-programmed maneuvers such as
accelerations, turns, or pushovers, and
the predicted sonic boom footprint for
that maneuver appears on the map.
After fully developed and implemented,
this will allow the pilot to select or modify
parameters to either avoid generating
a sonic boom or to place the sonic boom
in a specific location. The system may
also provide pilots with guidance on how
to execute the chosen maneuver.

This technology will enable supersonic
commercial flight without disturbing
population centers on the ground.

This work was done by Ed Haering of
Dryden Flight Research Center and Ken
Plotkin of Wyle. DRC-008-001

This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).

Display Provides Pilots with Real-Time Sonic-Boom Information (reference DRC008001) is currently available for download from the TSP library.

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